


Grateful

by mustachio



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 06:57:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustachio/pseuds/mustachio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by <a href="http://drparisa.tumblr.com/post/45290318853/when-connor-came-home-from-the-gallows-achilles">this</a> post on tumblr.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Grateful

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this](http://drparisa.tumblr.com/post/45290318853/when-connor-came-home-from-the-gallows-achilles) post on tumblr.

“Achilles! Achilles!”

It’s the banging at the door that initially wakes him and the call of his name that brings him to full consciousness. Between the sleep that still clouds his mind as he walks to the door and the sound of his own annoyed grumblings, he doesn’t fully register the panic in the person’s voice until he opens the door. He doesn’t recognize the man as one of Connor’s recruits until about fifteen seconds after that. Clipper. That’s the boy’s name, he thinks.

Achilles gives him a moment to catch his breath before demanding answers. With the way he’s coughing with every other breath, Achilles is willing to believe he might’ve run here from where ever it was he came from.

“Well, out with it. What is so important that you felt you needed to risk breaking down my door with your banging?”

“It’s—It’s Connor! He’s been arrested in New York—”A cough as Clipper continues to try to catch his breath forces him to pause, although that little bit is already enough to send a spark of panic through Achilles. “He’s to be executed for plotting to kill Washington! It’s planned for today. We have to do something!”

“ _What_? How did this happen?”

Achilles straightens up, eyes narrowing, and grip on his cane tightening so much that it might have been painful if the mix of emotions running through him weren’t so distracting. Anger is a prominent emotion among all of them. How in the world did that boy end up arrested? Connor is supposed to be discreet about his work—Achilles has told him that a thousand times!—and now look where he’s gotten himself! There could have been nothing discreet about what he was doing if it landed him in prison. Not only that, but his indiscretion as now gotten him accused of the very thing he was trying to prevent. Achilles wishes Connor were here so that he could wring the boy’s neck and give him a good lashing with his cane. He deserves it for this trouble. But Connor isn’t here. He’s in jail waiting to be executed for something he certainly did not do. 

And more than the anger he feels for these things, he’s worried. So much so that he’s already feeling sick and certain that there is no way he’ll manage to make it to New York without emptying the contents of his stomach on the way. How could Connor do this? How could he be so stupid? Achilles’s mind goes to what will happen if they don’t make it in time, if they aren’t able to stop the execution and the nausea only gets worse. For all his reluctance in training Connor at the beginning, for all the arguments they have on a near daily basis, the thought of Connor never coming home sends a sadness and worry through Achilles that he hasn’t felt in over twenty years.

Clipper shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders at the question.

“I don’t know. Me and Stephane—we were just coming back from a mission when we heard about it. We were lookin’ for him and I guess someone from around there recognized us and told us what was happening. Don’t know who they were exactly or how they knew about us—”

Achilles raises a hand to stop him mid-explanation. That’s not what he wants explained and there’s no time to stand around listening to useless details. No doubt this execution is planned for the soonest possible time and if they don’t leave now they may not make it in time, if they even have a chance of that now.

They get to the site of the execution and the relief that Achilles feels is indescribable. From the looks of things, Connor hasn’t arrived yet, leaving them more than enough time to prepare. It only takes a quick scan of the area for Achilles to be able to form their plan of attack. Or rescue, as it were.

“How good are you with a bow and arrow?”

This is directed at Clipper. He heard from Connor that the boy is a good shot, hopefully that applies to all manner of shooting.

“I’m better with a rifle, but Connor’s been teaching me to use the bow. I’d like to think I’m at least half way decent at it by now.”

“That will have to do. See that building over there?” Achilles uses his cane to point towards a building behind the gallows. There’s a guard there, but he has faith that Clipper should be able to take him out with little difficulty. “I want you to take up a position there. When signaled, shoot at the noose. It won’t be enough on its own to break the rope entirely, but that’s where you two will come in.” 

Now he turns to Duncan and Stephane. 

“One of you will be on the building next to Clipper, the other on the ground. Use your throwing knives to cut what’s left of the rope. One should be enough to allow Connor to go free, but if not, the other has to try. Be quick about all of this. Time will be short and you cannot afford to waste any of it on preparation. Now go!”

He can see Connor being pushed through the crowd now and the anger he’d felt before is renewed, albeit for various different reasons this time. Connor is bloody and bruised and very clearly malnourished. Just how long has Connor been imprisoned and why had he heard nothing about it until now? It would have been a risky move, but if he’d only known about all of this, Achilles could have done something to get him out of there before it all came to this. Still, there’s no use dwelling on that now. Connor is getting closer and Achilles needs to find some way to speak to him, to tell him that they’re here for him.

That way comes in a less than conventional method when a woman standing next to him rushes up and punches Connor in the face. At any other time, the sight might have been amusing. The woman was about half the size of Connor and her punch still managed to bring him to his knees. Right now, it’s only a reminder of the terrible shape Connor is in and Achilles roughly pushes the woman away, though not before she spits on the ground next to Connor.

The pain in his knees as Achilles knees next to his student is more pain than he’s felt in a long while, but he manages to fight through it. This is something that needs to be said. Achilles won’t be able to tell when to give the signal from his position. That responsibility will have to fall to Connor and that can’t happen if Connor doesn’t know that they’re there.

“You are not alone. Only give a cry when you need us.”

He gets up, not meaning to give Connor a chance to protest, though the stubborn boy does it anyway.

“Forget about me. You need to stop Hickey, he’s—”

Connor doesn’t get a chance to finish that sentence as the main in question drags him up and pushes him towards the gallows. It doesn’t matter. Achilles wasn’t listening. Forget about him? Achilles doesn’t know that he has the ability to forget about Connor. Not now. Not at this point.

There’s no use dwelling on the foolish words of a stubborn idiot. Not if they were going to save that idiot. Achilles moves as swiftly through the crowd as his old bones will take him. There should be a trap door in the gallows that he can slip through to meet Connor with his tomahawk. If he can just get in there, then the only thing to do will be to wait and hope that Connor isn’t so stubborn as to not call upon them.

A full minute. A full minute Charles Lee speaks before he finally gives the order to open the door beneath Connor’s feet and it’s all Achilles can do to not go up there and simply shut the man up himself. Lee is too cocky, too in love with his own voice and Achilles feels a wave of self-loathing wash over him when he remembers how he failed to kill the younger man. The world would not miss someone like that. Those thoughts end with the sound of Connor’s whistle and every emotion aside from relief is washed away when Connor drops down next to him, mostly fine aside from some heavy breathing.

The events following that pass quickly. Hickey dies and while Achilles is glad for that, there’s more annoyance than anything. Connor doesn’t truly think he’s in any condition to go chasing after Washington, does he? Achilles follows after him as best he can with his bad leg and he knows that Connor is deliberately ignoring him. They both know that even Achilles won’t allow him to get right back into things after this and they both know that Connor is too stubborn to listen.

“Connor, think about what you’re doing. There is nothing to be gained from rushing into things so quickly after this. You need rest. You need to regain your energy. Running off and getting into another fight will only see you killed.”

“And what is to be gained from waiting? The longer I wait, the more danger Washington is in. They have to be stopped as soon as possible. I need to go.”

“You _need_ to do nothing. You think I don’t know that the Templars have to be stopped? I am the one who reminds you of what you need to do on a near daily basis. I know the danger these men pose, but you cannot fight them as you are!”

Connor stops walking now, turning to glare at Achilles, and opening his mouth to respond, but Achilles doesn’t give him the chance.

“I did not come here; I did not save you for you to act so recklessly that you end up risking death again. I did not train you so that you could throw your life away so needlessly. Even the strongest of men need to know their limits and you have hit yours. Look at yourself! You think you pose any threat to those men as you are? You may have gotten rid of Johnson, Pitcairn, and Hickey, but your father and Charles Lee will not be so easy to get rid of. The only thing you need to do right now is come home.”

Achilles expects Connor to continue arguing, but they must stand there in silence for at least two full minutes before Connor responds with something that is most definitely not an argument.

“Achilles I—,” Connor pauses, like he’s not entirely sure what to say. “I’m sorry. For all of this.”

“You should be. A man my age shouldn’t have to come rushing to your rescue.”

Achilles keeps his tone light, to show that he isn’t serious, even if he is annoyed. If it were necessary, Achilles would come to Connor’s rescue every day, though he would certainly prefer that it never happen again.

Connor takes a step closer and, after another moment of looking unsure of himself, Achilles is only mildly surprised when Connor hugs him.

“Thank you.”

Achilles doesn’t respond, only smiles and hugs Connor back. He doesn’t need the thanks. He’s only grateful that he doesn’t have to bury another son.


End file.
